As the winner of the recent Survival Run in Nicaragua—the first female winner ever in the race’s six-year history—the 29-year-old conquered a 50+ mile course through the volcanic jungles of Ometepe, a small island off the coast of Nicaragua.

The Survival Run, which took place on February 28, is similar to a Spartan Race, in that it’s an obstacle course that draws endurance athletes from all over the world. But it has a unique twist: The event includes tasks that require more than just speed and strength, a reminder that fitness goes far beyond the gym.

Survival Runs are held all over the world, from Canada to Morocco to Australia, and each course’s obstacles vary depending on the environment. I was traveling in Nicaragua during this year’s run, and many of the participants and volunteers told me that the Ometepe course, which is also the original one, is the hardest of them all.

This year, Gebhardt says, participants had to run up and down one of the island’s volcanoes, Volcan Maderas, twice (each run is about 6 miles round trip with nearly 5,000 feet of elevation). And on the second volcano run, they had to carry a 22-pound stick of bamboo the whole time, too. They also had to carry that bamboo 5 miles across a muddy swamp; prop the bamboo against a mango tree and climb the bamboo into the tree; climb three coconut trees with no help whatsoever; clear 66 feet of thick jungle with a machete; chop a thick tree into sections with an axe; carry a 3-gallon bucket of water up a 2-mile hill; collect 154 pounds of firewood; hit a target with a slingshot three times; and complete a 1K (0.62 mile) swim to a small island and back. Throughout all of this, participants also had to carry a raw egg in their backpacks, and if it broke at any point, they had to get a new one or be disqualified. To win this epic race, Gebhardt beat 50 participants—but of those 50 participants, only six actually finished the race with her.

It took Gebhardt about 26 hours to finish the course, hours in which she functioned on zero sleep, lots of adrenaline and, like most intense endurance athletes, lots and lots of food. I sat down with the winner, who is a content marketing manager in Munich, Germany, and also a Spartan runner, to talk about her eating plan—and how she felt all along the way.

Prerun prep

Gebhardt’s eating plan actually started two months before the race, when she cut coffee from her diet completely. That’s a ritual she sticks to before every 24-hour race (because yes, she does lots of them). “I’m not even sure if it helps my body, but it definitely helps my mind, because I feel more balanced when I don’t have caffeine,” she tells me. Another reason she cuts it out is so that she can have coffee during the race, and it will feel more effective. “For me, cutting out caffeine before a big race helps it kick in a lot stronger when I have it during the race, since my body hasn’t had it in a while,” she explains.

Booze was also a no-go for Gebhardt, though she says that’s more of a lifestyle choice in general than a way she prepared for this particular course. “I don’t really put a label on it, but I don’t drink that much overall. I’ve found that even if I have just a little, I feel it in my body while I’m training, and I can’t perform 100 percent. If it’s at a party and I really want it, I’ll have it, but it’s just not something I need on a day-to-day basis,” she says.

A firm believer in that nonlabeling life, Gebhardt also ate mostly vegetarian in the weeks and months leading up to the race—though again, she wouldn’t label herself a vegetarian. “My boyfriend is a vegetarian, so we cook mostly plant-based foods when we’re together. But if there’s meat or fish around when I’m with someone else, I may eat it if I want it—I know what my body likes,” she explains. A typical food day for her may be a protein smoothie for breakfast, some sort of bowl for lunch with greens, avocado, and protein (edamame, tofu, tempeh, and feta are her favorites), and a bowl of oatmeal or some other grain for dinner (a favorite when she’s training). For the past three years, she’s also meditated for 20 minutes every morning, a routine she says helps her stay present—especially when she’s racing. “It’s really helped me stay in the moment and actually appreciate what I do on a daily basis.”

The night before the Survival Run, Gebhardt had a plate of daal (lentils) and guacamole and some homemade bread. “I think it’s important to eat whatever you would normally eat the night before a big race,” she says, though she’s also quick to point out that, in her experience, the night before doesn’t matter as much as the week before. “I’ve found that it doesn’t even matter if you get a bad sleep the night before a race because you’re nervous. What matters is how you treat your body for the full week leading up to the race.”

Survival Run fuel

On the day of the Survival Run, which started at noon, Gebhardt started with a surprisingly standard breakfast at 7 A.M.: two eggs with tomatoes, a big piece of whole-wheat bread, and a fruit bowl with banana, papaya, and pineapple. Later, at 11 A.M.—one hour before the race began—she fueled up again with raw beetroot and a banana. “I love to eat beetroot before my workouts, because it’s rich in nitrates,” she says. Nitrates may help you exercise longer overall, so some competitive athletes fuel up with it before events.

For the race itself, Gebhardt filled her backpack with carefully curated snacks which she’d chosen for their organic ingredients. With the exception of a couple of items, like energy gels, Gebhardt selected the most minimally processed options available. “You have to think about what you can carry, what you can eat quickly and on the go, what has the most calories, and what has the least amount of refined sugar,” she says. "Because I ate such natural foods before the race, I didn't want to change that all that much on race day.” Here’s exactly what she ended up eating and drinking during those grueling 26 hours:

Two big packets and one small packet of Trail Butter (portable packets of nut butter blended with other natural ingredients, like chocolate, dried fruits, maple syrup, and coffee)“My boyfriend and I did a lot of research online to find minimally processed foods that are good for races, and we eventually found Trail Butter, which I love! The packets are full of good fats, and they’re easy to eat, because you don’t have to chew that much,” she says. “But mostly, I like them because they’re not fake or super sugary. Some of them even have coffee in them, which gave me some nice energy.”

3 chocolate Clif Bars“They’re high in protein, and they have a little bit of sugar and oats, both of which help with energy,” she says. She likes the chocolate ones best, because she loves chocolate so much—so the bars are easy to get down.

3 Eat Performance Pure Power Paleo Bars, with just dates and nuts and dried fruits“Again, because I don’t eat a lot of processed foods in my daily life, I like to stick with minimally processed foods when I race, too—and these bars are perfect for that.”

4 Ringana sport boost packets“These are great, because all you have to do is put them in water, so they’re a great way to get calories in while you’re drinking.…That’s why racers usually prefer liquid food during races—so your body can focus on something else other than digesting,” she continues. She also really loves this brand—they’re an Austrian company—because they’re all-natural (the packets contain mostly coconuts, electrolytes, salt, and magnesium).

2 small PowerBar performance smoothies (one apple mango and one pear apple banana)“These snacks are technically for children, but they’re great for racing, too, because they’re easy to get into your body as you’re moving. Also, they’re natural. They’re just fruit, which means they have both fructose and glucose, both of which help with energy,” says Gebhardt.

5 GU Energy Gels (lemon and cranberry pomegranate)“I try to eat a GU gel every hour or second hour, depending on where I am in the race. I don’t love these as much as the other snacks, but they’re easy and effective. Lemon is my favorite flavor.”

2 Camelbacks that she kept refilling“While running one of these races, you sweat a lot, and in order to have a clear mind and feel able to run and do all these challenges, you need to stay hydrated,” Gebhardt explains. Water is the main liquid you need to fuel your body, though Gebhardt recommends boosting your water with electrolytes and carbohydrates, like she does with her Ringana packets, whenever possible. “Pure water is essential, but the boosts helps, too, for added energy. Without water, you won’t make it as far—and you certainly won’t cross the finish line.”

“On average, I ate about 200 to 250 calories per hour, because that’s all my body can handle—and I made sure to constantly drink water throughout the race, either plain or with the Ringana packets mixed in,” Gebhardt says. She doesn’t remember which bars she ate during which hours, but knows that she kept it consistent—except when the conditions didn’t allow her to eat at all. “Some hours, I couldn’t eat anything because of the activity, like when I was trekking through the swamp. I had to go three hours without eating during that time! And then other hours, like when I was running up the volcano, I ate more, because I knew my body needed more,” she says.

It’s important to note that Gebhardt didn’t ever stop to eat, either. “Eating breaks were never on my list,” she says. Instead, she basically multitasked and jammed on her food while she was on the move—which is how she operates at home, too. “I love doing things efficiently, even when I’m not racing. I like to put on the washing machine while I’m in the bathtub or before I head out to run, and I usually paint my nails before I meditate, so that they dry while I’m meditating.” That said, even though she didn’t stop to eat, Gebhardt did make sure to intentionally snack at the most convenient times—i.e., when her heart rate was the lowest. “Whenever I run these races, I try not to eat when I’m heading up a mountain, and instead will wait until I’m going down a mountain, or when I’m carrying something on even ground,” she explains. Makes sense: It’s a lot easier to eat when you’re not gasping for air at the same time.

Aside from staying hydrated and eating enough, Gebhardt’s third goal throughout the run was to try to enjoy the moment—especially when times got extra tough. “When I was trekking through the water with the bamboo in pitch-black darkness, I thought to myself, ‘Yep, it definitely would not be my idea of a good time to go in the water in total darkness with this bamboo, so I am going to try to appreciate every moment, and just BE in the moment.’ I reminded myself that I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to try new things, so the most important thing is to take the time to intentionally enjoy the experience.” And as Gebhardt was getting heady with herself there in the darkness, the moon started to set to make way for the sunrise. “I will never forget that moonset,” she says. “It was so orange and it looked so great. That was my moment when I felt especially happy to just be there.”

Gebhardt also says that stepping back from the situation and reminding herself that these are tasks the locals do every day really helped push her through. (Granted, the locals don’t do all of the tasks in a row for 26 hours, but still!) “I had a nice moment when I was carrying my bucket filled with water,” she begins. “I was struggling, and then I told myself, ‘Many of the locals have to do this every day if they want water.’ Knowing that what I was doing had a deeper meaning really helped me motivate.”

And of course, knowing she had a nice postrace celebration to look forward to also helped push her to the finish line. Her first meal after the race was ratatouille with rice, which was the vegetarian option served right at the finish line. “I just wanted a lot of vegetables and carbs in the my body!” she says. But the next day, she celebrated with lots of delicious island food, too. “We had some great fruit smoothies and curries with platanos, which are grilled bananas. I really love them, and you can get them anytime and anywhere on the island.”

In the end, though, the best motivator of all was Gebhardt’s genuine pursuit of pure, authentic happiness. “Whenever I run one of these long races, I always like to tell my body, ‘It’s fine, we are having fun, even if we are exhausted. It’s fine!’ The goal is to be happy during these races.” And if you can throw in a first-place win at the end? Well, that doesn’t hurt, either.

To find out more about Vanessa’s other fitness adventures, follow her on Instagram at @for_the_life_of_me_.